Something Gold Can Stay
by Johnnycake Sunrise
Summary: Dally didn't deserve to leave this world, lying there cold and alone on the street, not knowing that there was any good left in this world. He didn't deserve to die like that. And Johnny wouldn't let him. Will soon become Johnny/Dally slash. Intended to have many chapters. First fanfic, please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All characters and The Outsiders belong to S. E. Hinton.**

**Warning: Will eventually contain Johnny/Dally slash, so please don't read if that offends or disturbs you. Also contains some mature language.**

**This story begins when Dally is in the hospital after the fire and is about to sneak out to fight in the rumble. I hope you enjoy!**

Lying there in that hospital bed, Dally was consumed with the sickest of feelings, feelings that he just couldn't quite place. Dallas had always hated things that confused him, things that he couldn't be fully prepared for. School, for instance, with all those meaningless problems and questions that made him look like some kind of idiot. But things like that he easilly got rid of- he quit going to school and beat up anything else that interfered with him.

A benefit, if there was any of life on the streets, was that he always knew how it would go. He knew the rules of any kind of fight, be it with skin, knives, or guns, knew how to pick up girls, knew how to fool the fuzz and how to make it through jail time if he didn't. He knew how to feel in any of these situations, which was to not.

But this, right here, was something different. He was glad Two-Bit and Pony had left him alone, not that he couldn't have made them if he wanted to. Gripping the icey metal of Two-Bit's switch, he tried with all his might to keep his thoughts focused on nothing but the pending rumble. He fought to find that familiar mix of hatred and anticipation that he always experienced before fights. Man, would he give it to those socs. He couldn't wait to see those pieces of shit go down, to watch them pay for what they had done to his Johnny.

_His _Johnny.

Dammit, he thought. He wasn't _his_ Johnny. He was just some dumb kid, no different than any other dumb kid. But Dally knew that that was a lie. Dallas had always loathed how he could lie to anyone else in the world, except for himself.

He felt almost apologetic, because Johnny wasn't just any kid. Johnny was special to Dally. Johnny was _everything _to Dally. He was his best friend, the reason he woke up in the morning, and he quite possibly could be the reason the world turned and all that other crap.

But also, he was the reason Dally was here right now in this hospital. The reason he had that sick feeling in the pit of what someone else could call their heart. Because Johnny wasn't well. As much as he fought against it, the thought still came: _His_ Johnny might die.

No. He wouldn't die. He _couldn't _die. What kind of world do we live in, if the kindest, most specialist person in it would die for something as heroic as this?

But then Dally gagged and nearly vomited, because he knew all too well what kind of world we lived in. He needed to stop feeling, to stop thinking about Johnny. He looked desperately at the clock. Damn. Six o'clock. Too early to head to the rumble. He was getting as close to frantic as he had gotten in a long time. His hand flew to his St. Christopher necklace, the thing that always sort of calmed him to hold. He would never admit that, though, because Dallas Winston didn't need comfort.

Just for a second, he did almost feel relatively peaceful, until he realized why. It was the necklace that Johnny had given him. Only now did he realize that that was why he dug it so much. He saw it as a kind of token of Johnny's love, something that said "hey world, somebody cares about me". Not that he would ever let anyone know he got it from Johnny.

Oh great, he mumbled under his breath, remembering that 6 o'clock meant that they'd soon be bringing him his shitty hospital "dinner", if you could call it that. He heard the nurse outside his door, and thinking it was in his best interest and also because he just didn't want to deal with people at the moment, went limp and pretended to be asleep.

He listened as the nurse walked in. Once it hit her he wasn't awake, she let out a sigh of relief. Dallas mentally cussed her out, and almost considered "waking up" just to piss her off. But he didn't, and after she left he still kept his eyes shut. He wasn't trying to doze off or anything, mostly because he couldn't- he just wanted to rest up before the rumble. That's what he told himself.

He did get a little bit sleepy though, probably from those crap pills they kept giving him, and that he'd been spitting out when they left up until a few hours ago, when he took them in a futile attempt to calm himself down. In his tired state, he let his guard down just enough to let his mind wander. Normally, he wouldn't allow himself to get nostalgic, but it seemed pointless now.

His thoughts brought him to the day that Johnny gave him that necklace. It had only been about a month since he'd hopped that train back to Tulsa from New York to get away from that whole murder rap that had been falsey pinned on him, and two weeks since he met Johnny. He had just told Johnny that he was thinking about heading back to New York.

"But why," Johnny had exclaimed, his big black eyes swelling with tears- a reaction a little too emotional to have with someone he'd just met.

"I don't know, there ain't nothing to do here. New York, man, now that's something else. They have _real_ gangs there, _real _rivalries, not just a few groups of friends that think they're all that," Dallas had replied matter-of-factly.

"But... you said that there was no one that cared about you in New York," Johnny pleaded, giving what Dallas had already come to know as the puppy-dog eyes look. Those hadn't quite been Dally's words, but it was true nonetheless.

"So? Nobody cares about me anywhere. You think I give a shit," Dally sneered.

Johnny looked deep into his icey blue eyes, with such tenderness that you never would have known he was glaring daggers at him. "I care about you."

Dally hadn't known what to say. He had seen Johnny's eyes as he said it, he had known he meant it. It filled Dally with this emotion that he didn't think he had ever felt before.

And it pissed him off. "Why the hell would you do that for," he asked bitterly. "Huh? It's just stupid. Why would you go and let yourself get attached to someone you just met? Don't you know that it's only gonna get you hurt? After all the shit that you go through, and you still haven't learned your lesson. Ya know what? You deserve everything that's ever happened to you, and more. Maybe this will get you to toughen up, because obviously you're too dumb to do it on your own."

Dally wasn't quite sure why he reacted so hostilly, but it was for the best. The kid was a freak. He had lived on the streets for 13 years at that point and still hadn't had the common sense to get hard like any normal kid. What he went through, getting the hell beat out of him on daily basis and maybe worse from his folks and getting pushed around by the socs would make anyone bitter and mean. It had with Dally, and what he went through had probably shyed in comparison to Johnny's life.

The first time Dally had seen him getting clobbered around by his old man, he was furious that he hadn't even tried to fight back. It was the first of many times Dallas had explained to him that if you get tough and hit back, nothing can touch you.

"But I don't want to hurt anyone. If I did then I would be the exact thing I was defending myself from," he had responded softly.

While this concept wasn't new to Dallas, he saw no reason to care about hurting others. No on gave a shit about him, so why should he give a shit about them?

There was one person who cared about him though, and that person was still standing in front of him, looking sadly at the ground. He thought about apologizing to him, but knew that by being nice to this kid he would be doing the same thing he had called stupid moments ago.

Besides, it was foolish to believe Johnny could actually genuinely love him. He only thought he did. No one could love Dallas, he was a hood. A cold, unfeeling hood, and nothing more.

"I'll be on a train to New York by the time you wake up tomorrow," he had said to Johnny, and started walking away from the corner they were standing on, and away from _Johnny_.

"See," he thought to himself bitterly. "He isn't even gonna try and stop me."

He was a little too relieved when Johnny appeared by his side moments later. Johnny had almost startled him, and he vaguely wondered why he hadn't turned and punched him for it.

"I can't stop you if you're set on going to New York, Dal. But I want you to have this." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a necklace that had a gold circle with a picture engraved in it. Dally cocked his head to the side and stared at him. "I found this when I was a litte kid, and it's always been sort of a good luck charm to me. St. Christopher is the saint of safe travel, so I want you to have it on your trip to New York. You can just throw it away if you don't want it."

He didn't move, so Johnny dropped it in the pocket of his leather jacket. "If you ever need anything, _anything_, come find me. I'll always be there for you." He left the lot, disappearing into the shadows of the street.

Dallas remained standing where he was for a long time. He wanted to protest- to give it back to Johnny and tell him he didn't need safety and how ridiculous it was to give his most prized possession to him because he was just gonna pawn it or trash it or loser it- but he couldn't.

The next day, Dally strolled passed the lot, where Johnny was sleeping.

"Hey man, you wanna go see a movie or something," Dally asked nonchalantly. Johnny sprung awake with a wide grin on his face.

And for the first time in years, Dally had actually enjoyed going to a movie. Especially after he found a train scedual in Johnny's back pocket.

This story had always brought a smile to Dally's face, and it did today, even under these circumstances. The smile faded quickly though, as he was brought back to reality as he noticed it was now 6:45. The rumble would be starting soon.

**Thank you for reading! This is supposed to be a multi-chapter story about what I think would have happened at the end of The Outsiders, involving Johnny and Dally not dying. I have put alot of thought into this and I think the plot I have come up with is going to be really interesting. Any comments and reviews will be greatly appreciated, because this is the first fanfiction I have ever published. Thanks so much!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ever since Dallas learned how cruel the world was, how the slightest affection for someone could tear him apart inside, and how no matter what he did, his parents could never love him, he had suppressed his emotions. As a result of countless nights in jail, or on the street, or upstairs at some random hood's party, he had become so hardened, so in control of his emotions or lack thereof, that he just couldn't bring himself to give a shit about anything.

The fact that Dally was ultimately incapable of love had never bothered him. _Love_ had only ever caused him pain, betrayal, and disappointment. He didn't regret not having it, because there was nothing in this mean, hateful world that was worth loving. Back when he was a kid, or as he called it, stupid, he would have been sad, he might have even cried if he had known his future. But Dallas knew now that it was better to feel nothing than suffer, and there was no way in hell he could go back, even if he wanted to.

That was how it was, at least, until he met _Johnny_. Soft, sweet Johnny, the gentlest and kindest person he had ever met. And he was _like him_. It's not real hard for someone brought up in a happy little soc family to be nice, even though he's never met one that was. But then there was little Johnny, who went through all the same shit he had and more and was still so loving and good. And more important than anything, he was this way to bitter, mean Dally. Particularly to him.

Johnny didn't see Dally that way, though. He wasn't scared off by Dallas's tough exterior. Unlike anyone he had ever met before, he took the time to look past it. It was what made him _Johnny_. Dally never knew what he saw in him, but by the way his wide black eyes shined with admiration everytime they met Dally's, he knew there was something. It was a pretty tuff thing, to be honest.

Finding something so special after he had long given up on the possibility that that could ever happen had given him just the very slightest drop of hope. Maybe, just maybe there was some good in this world. Maybe.

And as Dallas sped down the street with Ponyboy by his side, rushing to the hospital after the rumble, the thought crept into his mind like the darkest of demons: That one ounce of good that was left was about to be ripped away from him.

NO NO NO. Johnny would be ok. Johnny had to be ok. He HAD to be, because Dallas wanted him to be and Dallas always got what he wanted. Always.

If this were true, then why did Pony look so damn nervous? Stupid kid. Maybe he would learn something from this, watching the toughest hood in town fall apart before his eyes. Get tough and nothing can touch you. Dally knew this, had always known it, so why had he not stuck to it? Why had he let that kid sneak on inside of him and leech onto his heart?

But he knew one thing for sure- no matter what happened tonight, no matter how hurt and _scared_ he was and would be, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Because he knew, deep down, he would do it all over for even just a moment with Johnny. He just wished he didn't have to.

He continued to ramble nonsense at Pony who wasn't even listening as he drove closer and closer to the moment of truth.

**Thanks for reading another chapter! I know this one was kind of short, I hope to add another one soon. Please review, I would love to hear your thoughts on this! And thank you so much to the person who commented! In a few chapters, I will start introducing my original plot. I've just been trying to lay the foundation for the rest of the story. Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: In this chapter, I changed what happened in the book very slightly. **

Fear. Dallas had always seen it as a useless emotion. He knew that it was a survival mechanism, something to tell stupid people to stop whatever stupid thing they were doing because it was stupid.

But Dallas wasn't stupid. He already knew the consequences of everything, knew what to expect. There was no point in fearing- if something was going to happen it would. No matter how hard you dreaded, it wouldn't change a thing, so why do it?

When he had been in New York, he had been fearless. Part of it was that he didn't want to fear, so he just didn't. The other part was that he simply had nothing to lose. All he had was himself. And he himself laughed in the face of death. Death had always been the inevitable, so why fear it? Live fast and die young. That was what hoods did. He had never intended to live to 30, and it didn't bother him at all.

He hadn't had hope for his future since a young age, and he thought it was ridiculous that Johnny did. Johnny had always been so naive, so innocent. Countless times had he told Dally how things would get better, how Dally would do great things because Dally was "special". Of course never believed him, never took him seriously.

At least that was what he had thought.

But as he raced through the hospital, face dripping with sweat, and possibly even another fluid, he became glaringly aware that he _did_ have something to fear. He had _everything_ to fear, because he was about to lose it all. Someway, somehow, Johnny had managed to plant some little seed of hope inside of him. What happened to him now was _out of his control_, and it was unbearable.

What he did have control over, however, was the fact that he was going to be with his Johnny. No matter how many doctors he had to threaten.

He stood before Johnny, his sweet, loving, Johnnycake. He lay there so pale, so quiet. Johnny had always been quiet, but this was a different kind of quiet- it radiated out of every inch of the too bright hospital room, consuming all in it's path.

He and Pony tried to catch their breaths, but he couldn't, and panted out how they had beaten the socs. Johnny didn't even attempt to smile. But he needed to. Dally needed to make him happy.

"... we're all proud of you," he said softly. At this, Johnny's soft face lit up, and his eyes twinkled with admiration and joy. All Dally had said was that he was proud of him, as he had always been. And yet this had made Johnnycake so content. Dally felt a sharp pain inside of him as he acutely realized how happy he could have been making his Johnny this entire time.

How many opportunities had he missed to tell Johnny how special he was? How much he meant to him, how much he _loved_ him? And why? Because he had wanted to be tough, to not feel, to not risk getting hurt. But he hadn't been tough, he had been weak, and it had gotten him no where, because here he was.

He longed to tell Johnny now, tell him how he meant the world to him, how just now he had realized that the only times in his life he had ever been _happy_ were the times he was with Johnny. But no sound came out.

He watched as Pony leaned in to hear something Johnny had struggled to say, and then Johnny turned to him. Dallas looked into his eyes, and those beautiful eyes that had always been full of emotion and love now looked exhausted and defeated.

"Dally..." Johnny fought to get out. He inhaled sharply and tryed again. "Dally... you... you still have alot of time to be who you wanna be. There's... there's still alot of good in the world..."

And then he sunk into the pillow.

Dally's whole world sunk along with him.

He leaned over Johnny - HIS Johnny, he admitted at last. He stroked his soft, jet black hair out of his eyes as he had done so many times before, but this time it was different. His best friend was lying there, right in front of him, but... it wasn't his best friend. Johnny wasn't there anymore. He wasn't anywhere. He was gone.

Loneliness seeped into every cell of his body, and he reeled back into the wall. In that moment, every ounce of confidence and toughness Dally had spent years acquiring dissolved into thin air. The hardened wall he had built up collapsed, and all his pain and hurt and loss came pouring out in the form of tears steaming down his face.

"Don't die, Johnny, please... don't die," he begged with all his might, but the world refused to listen. He was overwhelmed with grief - too much for him to handle. And the only person that could help him was...

He couldn't bear to think it. The only thing left to do was to run, to run from reality. But reality had always ran faster.

**Writing this made me so emotional. Thanks for reading! Stay tuned, because Johnny's not dead. And thanks again to everyone who commented and favorited this story! Your reviews mean so much to me! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

_Don't feel. Don't feel. Don't feel._

Dally could feel himself slipping. His head was whirling, his eyes were blurred. Anger, pain, grief, sorrow, and loneliness coarsed through his veins. All of the terrible emotions that he had long ago swore he would never put himself through again. But it felt right to be feeling them- something like that happening to someone like Johnny deserved to be mourned. Dally had a hunch that even if he hadn't been close to Johnny, even if he had never met or heard of him, his death would have brought him pain. He just couldn't see himself existing without him.

And yet he was still here.

_Don't feel. Don't feel. Don't feel._

The calm in that convenience store masked the storm that was brewing inside him. He felt like a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off. Come to think of it, he had always been ready to blow, but seeing Johnny like that... so _still_... it had lit the fuse. It was only a matter of time now.

_Don't feel. Don't feel. Don't-_

"Buy something or get out, you hood!"

A hood. That was what he had always been seen as. Practically his entire life, he had been looked at with hatred, like he was trash, the scum of the earth. All he saw when he walked down the street were stares of either disgust, fear, or both. He had been too numb, too _hard_ for this to bother him directly. But he sure noticed it- it nestled itself in his psyche and became a part of who he was. He accepted that.

That was, of course, until he met Johnny. Scared little Johnny, who was afraid of everything. Everything but violent, rough Dallas. But that was because he didn't see him that way. He wasn't scared off by his tough exterior. Unlike everyone else in the world, he didn't see a hood - he just saw Dally. And he saw him as his _hero_.

Johnny had been the first person in the world to ever truly get close to him. The only one who understood him, cared for him, and _loved_ him. The way his sensitive black eyes glowed whenever he looked at Dally made him feel like he was worth something, for the first time in his life. But now Johnny was GONE, and so was the last drop of humanity he had left.

Now he really was a hood, and he made that pretty clear to the shop owner, with a little help from his heater.

With a sack full of money, Dallas ran back into the night. It felt more fitting than the store. The seemingly eternal darkness of that night paralleled his life. His life had no light without Johnny, and neither did the world around him.

It had always amused Dally how things seemed to come full circle, in the most bitter of ways. It was a night just like this one when he had met Johnny.

He had been roaming the deteriorated, hopeless streets of Tulsa, when he had seen a slim figure illuminated under a street light.

He had been in that one horse town- or at least one horse compared to the Big Apple- for two weeks, and had not yet jumped a single person. So he lurked towards his prey with a hunger- a yearning... although only now did he realize that it wasn't for what he thought it was then.

When he had stepped under the circle of light created by the street lamp, the kid had turned around, and before Dally could take a swing, their eyes met.

Dallas had never believed in fate, destiny, or any of that shit, but he couldn't deny that in that moment, he _felt something_, for the first time in years. As his cold, icey blue eyes met that kid's emotional, passionate ones, it was as if the whole world dropped out around him and all that was left were his big black eyes. It could best be described as an out of body experience. Not that Dally believed in that.

Either way, he couldn't seem to manipulate his body right, and mentally cussed himself for succumbing to whatever the hell was going on right then. He was leaving himself vulnerable, giving this kid an oppurtunity to fight back and leave him being the one who got mugged instead.

But he didn't. He just looked at him with understanding, and offered him some lose change and a pack of smokes - all that he had with him. Dally was furious and wanted to clobber that kids head in, but instead snatched his possessions and told him to get lost, as if he had gone through with jumping him.

As he watched the dark haired boy walk away, he felt a sudden urge to ask him his name.

Turning around and smiling, he responded "Johnny Cade."

It was pretty fascinating, in a sick, agonizing way, how a name so foreign back then could ring with such a deep hurt now.

_Johnny. Johnny Johnny Johnny._

It was killing him. Tearing him apart from the inside out, because all he wanted to do was say that name one last time and get a response. Hear that soft, gentle voice say his name again, hear the deep admiration and love in his tone as he sighed "_Dally_."

Why, oh why couldn't he have realized this sooner? Why did it have to take Johnny's death for him to open up enough to become aware of how he felt about him.

For years, _years_, he had had his Johnny in his life, and had never fully accepted that he had cared about him. That thought had terrified him, for the obvious reasons, so he had kept himself in denial, kept telling himself that he could never love anyone. Surely, he had only felt sick after he was jumped because of how brutal the socs could be to a kid, not because of anything else.

Maybe he would have accepted that he cared about someone, had society had not been the way it was. If he hadn't learned from a young age that the only way to protect himself was to be tough and feel nothing. He hated the world. He had always hated it, but now he felt nothing but that hate- consuming, suffocating hatred for everyone and everything. THEY took his Johnny, THEY didn't let him fully enjoy the time he had had with him.

Not one thing in this cruel world had loved him, except _Johnny_. And only now did it hit him that he had loved Johnny back. He had been the _only _thing he loved. The only good thing in his life, the only good thing in the world. And now... now he was gone.

Dallas wanted to be gone too.

He hadn't really thought about what happens after death before, but in that moment, he prayed for there to be a heaven, an after life, somewhere- anywhere he could be with Johnny again.

Wherever Johnny was, Dally wanted to be there. All he wanted was to be with his Johnny, and Dallas Winston always got what he wanted.

So even as he heard the police's guns echo in the night, even as he fell to the ground, he didn't fear death, didn't regret it.

After all, he had been dead since the moment Johnny shut his eyes.

His vision faded to darkness, his body was over taken by numbness.

It was all over now.

Or was it?

**Thanks for reading! Sorry for not updating sooner, I've been sick. This was the last depressing chapter about Dally, it's gonna get happier from here. Thanks again to everyone who commented, followed, and favorited!**


	5. Chapter 5

White light. Blinding, white, light.

That was all that Johnny could see, could feel.

Everything was vague, unreal. He felt like he was floating and sinking at the same time. He had no idea where he was, or if he was anywhere.

The one thing that was real was a voice that he heard. A familiar voice, he knew, but he couldn't place it.

_Don't die, please!_

He knew that voice so well, who's was it?

DALLY! That's who it was! But if it was Dally's... why did it sound so... broken? Dally was the toughest person he knew, so if he was upset about something, it was something serious.

Johnny was so scared for Dally. He wanted to reach out and comfort him, to tell him that whatever was happening to him would be okay, that he was there for him. But he wasn't, he couldn't be, because he didn't know _where _he was. He couldn't feel, couldn't find his body.

In a sense, he felt _peaceful_, and he would have been, had it not been for this deep sense of uneasiness, like something wasn't right. Something wasn't right... with Dally.

Dally, his buddy, his best friend... he was scared, he was hurt... and although Johnny didn't know why, he had to help him.

He knew Dally thought someone was dead, but Dally didn't care much about anyone, so why was he so upset? Johnny knew he cared about him though, but he didn't think he was dead, right?

He tried to think back, what had happened? How did he get here? He tried and tried, but he couldn't remember the last thing that had happened.

He thought of Dallas, and Ponyboy, and Dallas again, and then...

Suddenly he saw it all, saw the church, the car, the fire, the ambulance, the hospital.

And then he saw Dally running out of the hospital, pleading, crying. He had to stop him! He had to stop whatever Dally was about to go do!

He remembered he was dying, and remembered hoping that Dally would take it okay. He knew it would hurt him, but as much as that killed him, he had still believed that Dally would be find, that somehow he could have convinced him that there was good left in the world and that he would go on and someday be happy.

Johnny had always been aware of his own naivity, but he had still wanted to be optimistic. He couldn't see anything happening to Dally- he was untouchable.

But he wasn't, Johnny knew that. And he was in trouble, but Johnny couldn't do a thing. He couldn't _move_, couldn't find where he was.

He thought back to that poem Ponyboy had recited, _Nothing Gold Can Stay_. When he had heard it, although he found it pretty and what not, he had disagreed with it. He believed that things that were special could last, and on his death bed, he needed to let Pony know that. But he also needed Dallas to know that.

What the two of them had- two friends who were so different yet had nothing but eachother- what they had- that was gold. Yet, he was over whelmed by the sudden knowledge that they were going to lose it- all of it.

But they weren't. He couldn't let that happen to them. He couldn't let that happen to _Dally_. Something gold CAN stay, and he was about to prove it.

Johnny had always seemed passive, and had always been pushed around. He wasn't passive, though, when it came to his friends, the people he cared about. Despite everything that had happened his life, he still loved deeply and passionately. Especially when it came to Dally, who needed it and deserved it more than anyone else.

He _needed_ to go to Dally. He need to, now. The feeling was so strong, so powerful, that it devoured everything around him, and sent a jolt coursing through his veins.

He felt a _snap_, and suddenly he jolted up in his hospital bed.

He heard a nurse gasp, and a doctor shout "glory, he's not dead!" Someone else yelled "he must have been in a coma!" They started surrounding him, four or five doctors all shouting questions at him in disbelief at the same time.

"Dally," he kept asking them, "Where is Dally," but he didn't get a response. "WHERE IS DALLY," he shouted, silencing them all.

"Who," one of the ones in the back of the ground asked.

Johnny was getting impatient. "Dally! My friend! The mean looking one with the real light blond hair?"

"That kid," a doctor asked, "that kid was crazy! Pointed a gun at me, scared me half to death!"

_Oh no_, Johnny thought. Without another word, he jumped up, and bolted out of the hospital. The doctors tried to grab him, to stop him, to tell him he wasn't fit to leave in any way, but he kept going. His shoulders still burned, his back still ached, but he hardly noticed.

He ran down the street in front of the hospital, but stopped suddenly, when he realized he had no clue where Dally had gone.

He could have gone anywhere in the city. Then it hit him- there was only one place, though, where he could have gone in a situation like this.

Johnny started sprinting to the place where they had first met, the street light in the vacant lot. Due to his recent spinal injury he had only just miraculously recovered from, Johnny's running was painful and uneven, and he fell flat on his face multiple times.

Finally, he was able to reach the lot.

Just in time to see his Dally, his _hero_, get shot down by the police.

**Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 6

"NO!" The call echoed throughout the vacant lot, as loudly as the gun shots before it had.

Johnny dropped to his knees in front of Dally's body, no fight left in him. Tears dripped down his face- he had nothing left to do but sob.

That night that they had met under the street light- that night, Johnny never thought it would have ended like this. However, Dally might have.

Dally hadn't cared about anything, and at last he had come to care about Johnny. Really, truly care about him, one of the only people in the world to do so, and Johnny had appreciated it so much. And this was what Dally had gotten for it.

His best friend, his hero, his everything- now lay lifelessly before him.

It was all Johnny's fault. He should have protected Dally, he should have found the words to keep him from doing _this_.

Blood began to stain the pavement, and Johnny crawled through it to lay his hand on Dally's heart. Poor, poor, Dally, who didn't deserve to die like this at only seventeen. Who _didn't _die like this.

Johnny gasped when he felt a pulse- a weak, frail, pulse, but a pulse nonetheless.

He looked around him to see the gang- minus Pony- standing in awe of Dally being dead and Johnny being alive. He also saw the mob of cops approach him.

"Son, we're gonna need you to step away from the body," a husky cop with dark facial hair sneered grimly.

"No, he's not dead! Dally is still alive! Quick, somebody call an ambulance," Johnny insisted.

"We're gonna need you to step away from the body. Don't make us ask you again."

Johnny looked up at them with desperate bewilderment. "Listen to me, he is still alive! See for yourself," he pleaded.

"This is your final warning," the officer persued stubbornly, raising the gun that had remained in his hand.

It dawned on Johnny in that moment that they didn't want Dallas to live. He meant nothing to them- all he had been was a pain in their sides. And now he was as good as gone- and they intended to keep him that way.

"You all know damn well that you can help him right now, and if you don't do something this second I will-"

Johnny didn't get to finish his threat, because one of the cops had shot him, too. Pain shot through his body, and he fell over beside Dally. All his senses fogged, he couldn't find his mouth to scream out. All he could see was the off-white light of the street lamp, all he could hear was the muffled screaming of his gang and the police.

So _this_ was how it would end? Laying there beside his friend, his_ more than_ friend, it felt like their story would end as some sort of twisted Romeo and Juliet.

But he wasn't ready for it to end, not like _this_.

Dally didn't deserve to leave this world, lying there cold and alone on the street, not knowing that there was any good left in this world. He didn't deserve to die like that. And Johnny wouldn't let him.

He peeped an eye open, and looked around him. His vision was as clear as ever now. Just as he suspected, Dally's gun was still laying beside him. Johnny took a deep breath.

Then, he leaped up, and before anyone had time to realize what was happening, he had the gun to one of the cop's heads. Not just any cop- the chief of police, as shown to him a while back by Dally.

The police captain's eyes filled with fear. Of course the gun wasn't loaded, but he didn't know that, and quiet little Johnny sure could bluff when he was determined. And man was he determined.

"Now, you are going to command them to pick up Dallas, and put him in the passenger seat of one of your cars," Johnny commanded, in a tone that the gang- with the exception of Ponyboy- had never heard him use.

The officer resentfully did as he was told, and while at gun point, walked along with Johnny over to the patrol car.

Johnny took his keys, hopped in the car, and sped away, with Dallas slumped over beside him.

The cop lay for a moment on the road where he had been left, stunned, then jumped to his feet and yelled, "AFTER THEM!"

Soon enough, the normally timid greaser was speeding down the highway with a fleet of cops on his tail. He wasn't scared though- he was exhilarated. The world had kicked him around for years, and he had taken it, but at long last it had crossed the line. He WAS going to save his Dally. They couldn't stop him now.

However, they sure could chase him for a while. _Dammit_, he cussed aloud. He didn't have time for this. His favorite person in the world was DYING. He needed to ditch the fuzz, but they were multiplying by the minute. And being as he had just held the chief of police hostage, they wouldn't stop till they caught him, dead or alive. _Or dead_, he smirked.

The numerous cop cars, sirens blazing and all, trailed the stolen patrol vehicle to the train station, coming in from all angles. Just as they were about to surround it, the signal went off that a train was coming. As the train sped forward on its rail, Johnny's car didn't stop. It looked as though he was about to beat it, but- he didn't make it in time. The train ravaged the car, tearing it to bits. The Tulsa Police Department watched this seen, with mixed emotions of horror and success.

Little did they know, Johnny had shoved Dally out of the car prior to this, and they were now on a train to heaven knows where.

As the wheels of their freight train click-clacked into the darkness, at long last, Johnny had a chance to stop Dally's bleeding. Tears had returned to the dark haired boy's eyes as he slaved over his friend's wounded body through the long, moonless night.

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	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Dally felt was a soft wind, ruffling his hair lightly. Then he heard it, brushing through the leaves of trees, along with the happy call of birds chirping. Besides these peaceful sounds, everything else was silent.

No terrible music grinding against his ears, no slurring drunks, unaware of how loud they were being, no girls giggling obnoxiously, no police sirens blaring, no cussing, fighting, screaming.

Just a gentle calm. But it didn't feel strange, as it should have. He felt _safe_, like he didn't need to be on edge, ready to pound someone's face in on a moment's notice.

Wait a minute, he thought, realizing that he never felt safe. Except for when he was all alone with Johnny.

The name Johnny made him feel a sudden twinge of anxiousness, and he became unsettled in this calm envirement. That, however, was strange, because thinking about Johnny had always had the opposite effect in him.

What had happened with Johnny? He tried to think back, but his memory was blurred. What was the last thing he and Johnny had done together? He had been in the cooler for a while... then he saw Johnny and they made plans... where did they go? Oh yeah, to see a movie. But then he left and went to Buck's...

Then it all came pouring back to him in a quick wave of trauma- Johnny telling him he had killed a soc, the church, the fire, the rumble, and then-

Dally had killed himself. He was dead.

But he was still thinking, and feeling. Was he-

He felt a warm, wet drop land on his cheek. His eyes shot open, and his heart filled with undescribable joy when they met Johnny's.

His sweet, soft Johnny's tear filled eyes lit up like the sun, and he reached out a hand to touch Dally, as if he didn't believe it was really him. He beamed, and more tears filled his eyes, as though he was crying in deep relief.

Johnny was so beautiful, and there he was by Dally's side once again. But he had seen Johnny die... seen the life slip from bright eyes. This could only mean one thing-

"We're... we're in heaven," Dally sighed blissfully. "You were right, kid. Guess I wasn't that bad after all." Dally grinned. "So, heaven is for real, huh?"

"Dally, I don't know what happens after death, and I'm not ready to find out. We're not dead."

Dally sat up and looked around. Johnny was kneeling in front of him. They seemed to be in some sort of clearing in some sort of forest. The quiet nature scene around them was illuminated by an early morning sky, although the sun had not yet risen.

Dallas had never been in a place like this before. It looked like everything he'd long ago thought would be in heaven- before he stopped believing in that nonsense. He believed it all now, though.

"Johnny... I died. I remember it. I was shot by the fuzz."

"Shot, but not killed," Johnny explained, loving tears still dripping from his eyes.

"But... but I got shot in the CHEST, Johnny. I remember feeling a bullet hit there. You can't tell me that it didn't!"

He looked down at his chest- his shirt had been taken off- and expected to see a fatal wound through his heart.

There was a bullet there- but not in his heart. Nor was it in his lungs, stomache, or any other life-ending part of his body. Rather, it was in his Saint Christopher- the necklace Johnny had given him. It had caught the bullet. Had it not, he would no doubt be dead now.

Johnny smiled kindly at his awe. "Do you believe in fate now, Dally?" Johnny remarked, referencing a heated conversation they had had not so long ago. It seemed more like years to him now.

Dallas was too overwhelmed to think about any of that. How narrowly he had avoided death, how he had almost killed himself for no reason, since Johnny was alive, or _why_ Johnny was alive.

All he cared about was that Johnny was alive.

He wrapped his arms around Johnny's slim frame, holding onto him like his life depended on it. Which, he finally realized, it did. Johnny hugged him back, nuzzling into him, unable to comprehend that after everything that had happened, Dally was here with him.

Dally could have stayed like that forever, in that blissful hug with the only thing he cared about, but there was something he needed to say.

He pulled back and looked Johnny square in the eyes.

"Johnny. I love you."

Johnny wasn't stunned, or shocked, or disturbed. His eyes twinkled and a huge smile streched across his face. Behind all that joy, Johnny's expression quietly teased, _about time!_

"I love you too, Dally."

Dallas was ecstatic to hear him say it, although he didn't need to- he had already done so dozens of times. And now, Dally had finally returned the affection.

He thought back to the anguish he had felt when he thought Johnny was dead, how all he had wanted was another chance to make things right. And at last he had.

Johnny thought so, too. He wanted to make things even more right.

He leaned forward, and kissed Dallas on the lips.

Dally had never been kissed like that before. All these emotions coarsed through him, happiness, passion, joy, and... love. The feelings Dally had held back for so long- Dally had now let go and let them take over. And wow, it felt great.

When he was a kid, he had always been told about how beautiful and magical kisses could be. As a result, he was greatly disappointed at how anticlimactic his first kiss had been, with some greaser girl who couldn't care less about him.

But this tender, wonderful kiss with Johnny- not only was it just as spectacular as the others described it to be- it was a million times more. He doubted anyone had ever felt the way he did then- how could they, had they not kissed Johnny?

To think that he nearly died without experiencing this- that thought was unbareable.

Another thing that was unbareable, however, was the sudden pain the shot through his hip. He stumbled back onto his other side, holding his hip.

Dally realized this must have been an effect of his face to face confrontation with death, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

He heard Johnny squeak something about how the pain would stop in a soon, and then everything went black.

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	8. Chapter 8

The next time Dallas woke up, he didn't feel as peaceful as he had earlier. The sky was a deep blue, like the sun had just set below the horizon. The cool breeze from before had now become a freezing wind.

Dally took a few minutes to get his barings and become able to sit up, and then a few more to convince himself that everything from the last few days wasn't just a crazy dream.

His entire body was stiff and sore and aching. Despite the chilly air, he felt overheated, and he was covered in sweat. He through off whatever was draped over him.

He noticed that it was Johnny's jeans jacked. But where was Johnny?

"JOHNNY!" he called out, frantically, feeling vulnerable, which he hated. He spun around, and again, and to his relief, noticed a note from Johnny, written in the dirt before him.

His fit of panic had caused him to smear the message, but he was still able to make out _WENT TO FIND A STORE. I WILL BE BACK SOON, AND EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. J.C._

Dallas signed and leaned back against the tree behind him. He stared tiredly into the fire in the center of their clearing that Johnny must've started.

If it weren't for the sharp pain radiating from his wounds, he would have laid down and went back to sleep, because the last thing he wanted to do was be alone with his thoughts.

He felt this strange mix of nervousness and anxiety. The calm he had felt just that morning- or at least he hoped it was that morning- was gone. It was as if there was some switch that had been flicked off, and he really wished Johnny would get here already and turn it back on.

But Johnny was no where around. How long had it been? What if Johnny had gotten killed, or caught by the fuzz, or eaten by a bear? Were there even bears in Oklahoma?

Were they even _in_ Oklahoma? It dawned on him that he was entirely dependent upon Johnny's return- in a new way. If Johnny had gotten lost or didn't come back, he would die out there. He trusted Johnny enough to believe that he wouldn't leave him on purpose, but what if something went wrong?

_Stop asking questions!_ Dallas commanded himself. He felt like Ponyboy. Or Johnny. And as much as he loved Johnny, he never wanted to be _like_ him. He had been, in a different time and a different place, and it hadn't turned out so well.

However, it started to feel more and more like he was slipping up, letting his guard down once again. He had caused himself to be in a situation

Being vulnerable like this, being _open_, was one of the very few things in this world that no matter how tough Dally was, he had never been able to stand. It was what he had fought so hard to prevent. And what he had now been, more than ever.

It was starting to feel more and more like he was slipping up, letting his guard down once again. He had caused himself to be dependent on someone else, to _need_ someone else. Not just in this moment, but overall.

He had let himself love another human being- he could deny that no longer. And although everything appeared to be fine, or at least it would be when Johnny returned, he was still disobeying rule number 1 of survival. That the only one you can ever rely on was yourself.

What if Johnny didn't _want_ to come back? Of course he hadn't wanted him to get killed by the police, but that didn't necessarily mean he wanted to be with him either. What if he had fled before things got too serious, while he still could.

No. Johnny wouldn't do that. Johnny loved him.

Dally needed to stop thinking, because he knew from past experience that the harder he tried to convince himself of something, the less he would believe it. He needed to do something, to keep his mind busy somehow.

He considered exploring out away from his camp site, if you could call it that, but then decided that it could end up getting him lost. Rather, he settled on climbing a tree, to scout out the area.

It took him several minutes to get to his feet, and walk over to the mid sized tree. Looking at the even bark at the tree, Dally realized that this idea sounded alot better in his head. He felt weak, too weak to pull himself up. He went for it anyway, and on the third or fourth try managed to get himself on a branch.

He reached up to the next branch, but as he started to pull himself up, he felt an agonizing tear. He curled over to grab his side, and the last thing he saw was the ground rushing up at him.


	9. Chapter 9

Despite the fact that he had been knocked out, Dally somehow managed to have a dream. Or, rather, a nightmare.

There he was, in the middle of a bright, grassy field. He looked around this strange, rural landscape, but saw no one.

Suddenly, he heard a scream. He turned quickly and spotted a building that had not been there moments ago on the edge of the field.

He ran over to it and looked around for where the shout had come from. But there was no one there, either. It appeared as though it had been deserted for years. He peered through one of the shattered windows of the decreped building, and saw through to the other side.

Sitting on the edge of a hill overlooking a value was a person, a person he knew all too well.

He hurried around the building- which he now recognized as a church, and saw the figure again. He could clearly make out that it was Johnny- he was now leaning against a tree.

Johnny turned and looked at Dally, and a warm smile spread across his lips. The kind of smile that made his heart skip a beat.

In that moment, Dally didn't have any worries in the world. It was as though he and Johnny were the only people in the world, and no one could come and interfere, or hurt them in any way.

He ran toward Johnny, but just as he was about to reach him, he vanished.

Then he heard it again, that heart breaking scream. He turned towards the church, which was now ablaze.

He saw Johnny through a window.

_Dally!_ he called. _Help me! Save me!_

But Dally couldn't move. He could only watch the desperation in Johnny's eyes as he begged for help.

Finally, he found his feet, but it was too late. He reached the window just as the church collapsed, and he could have sworn he heard Johnny yell _How could you!_

And then he was somewhere entirely different. He was back in Tulsa. He had the numb feeling that he was forgetting something, but shook it off. He headed downtown to hunt some action.

He found some, alright. Out in front of the Dingo, some kid was getting his ass beat by and older kid in a leather jacket. The crowd was cheering for the guy with the jacket, but the loudest cheers were coming from a hot blonde chick, presumably, the guy's girl.

"This will teach you to mess with me. NOBODY messes with ME!" he yelled, planting a kick in the other kid's ribs.

Now, Dallas never had any sympathy for someone losing in a fight, and knew that the kid was probably getting what was coming to him, but this had given him an opportunity to start a fight, which was exactly what he was in the mood for.

"Hey, bitch, why dont ya fight somebody GOOD. If ya can!" Dallas taunted, ready to show this egotistic ass who was in charge around here.

But as the guy turned, Dally became horrified, and the color trained from his face. Because the guy was... Johnny?

"Johnny," Dally muttered, suddenly feeling sick. "What- what happened to you? What have you become?"

_I couldn't wait for you forever, Dally._

Dally's eyes flung open.

His eyes scanned the area. It was surise now, and he was still in their camp site. But there was still no Johnny.

He needed to find him, now.

He jumped up and started running. He rushed around the trees and reached a meadow, a big open field. It wasn't as still as the one from his dream- the tall grass was swaying in the wind, and there was a gentle mist floating above the ground.

He spotted something across the field, and his heart- or whatever he had there- swelled with joy. Johnny!

Dallas knew this wasn't a dream, this was real. Johnny saw him too, and he rushed in his direction. The two of them met in the center of the clearing.

"Johnny!" Dally yelled joyfully.

Johnny couldn't help but smile, but he asked, "What are you doing, Dal? Why did you leave our camp? What if you got lost? You could have gotten hurt, and then-"

Dally cut him off. "Johnny I need to tell you something."

Johnny looked into his eyes, with the same admiration and love he always had for him.

"Johnny, I almost died without telling you this. I'm done with holding in my emotions for you. I'm just... I'm just done with it. The times I've spent with you were the happiest times of my life. I know that's not saying much, but... but it is. And even when I thought you were dead, even as I wanted to die too, I wouldn't have changed any of it. I would go through it all over again just to be with you. You're the best thing in my life. You're the best part of me. You're like my other half- you bring out the best in me. You are the one good thing in my world, and-"

Dallas stopped his rant and stared at his friend. He thought he would be in awe, that Dallas Winston, the toughest hood in Tulsa, had just spoken those words.

Johnny was in awe, but in a different way. He was beaming, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

Dally realized that in his entire life, nobody had ever said something that nice to Johnny. But he deserved it. He deserved it so much, and he deserved so much more. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that tears formed in his eyes, too.

"What I'm trying to say is that I love you, Johnny. I will always love you. And I'm not letting you go. You are mine. And what I mean to ask is... do you want to stay that way forever?"

Johnny blinked. "Are you... asking if I'll marry you?"

Dallas thought about that. He realized that if Johnny were a girl, he would, in fact, propose to him. But why did it matter if he was a girl? He loved Johnny, and he wanted to be with him. More than he ever wanted to be with anyone else. He wanted to be with him... always.

"I mean- I guess... yeah. I am."

Johnny started crying- hard. Dally knew it took a lot to make him cry. Then again, this was a lot.

"Yes, Dally! A million times yes!" He wrapped his arms around Dally.

Their lips met just as the sun peaked over the horizon. This time, Dally felt no pain. All he felt was happiness, an unfamiliar emotion, that was becoming more and more familiar each day.

In that moment, for the first time in his life, he knew. He knew that Johnny would never leave him, and that, as long as he was by his side, everything would be okay. He could have balled. He really could have.

Eventually, their lips parted, but their bodies still remained intertwined.

Dally grinned. "Shoot, so I guess I'm engaged. Just wish I had a ring to give you..."

He looked down, and realized that he did. He still had his ring, the one he rolled that drunk to get, that he had just taken back from Sylvia.

"Here you go, kid," Dally said, placing the ring in the palm of Johnny's hand. The pride was evident in Johnny's expression.

"You know, if you're gonna make out with me and marry me and all, you're gonna have to stop calling me kid."

Dally smirked. "Whatever you say... kid."

Johnny rolled his eyes, still smiling, and slid the ring on his finger.

"Perfect," Dally murmered, planting another kiss on Johnny's lips.

"Just like you," he replied.

Hand in hand, they walked back to their clearing, unafraid of whatever lied ahead.


End file.
